V Santa Fe Art Fair: "like wind in the stern"

Santa Fe. Granada-. Nearly thirty Andalusian artists participated in the V edition of the Santa Fe Art Fair, which was held at the América-Centro Damián Bayón Institute, between December 13 and 15, with the Javier Román Gallery, as a special guest.

This is the second time that Arte por Excelencias has attended the event, organized by the Grenadian artists Purificación Villafranca and Francisco Javier Martínez Ruiz, with the aim of giving greater visibility to the Grenadian artists and the commercialization of their works.

We took advantage of the opening night to talk with Purification, who a few months ago ahead of our magazine some of the names we see now here.

Purification, what can we see this year at the Santa Fe Art Fair?

This year we have made sure that there is a great variety of disciplines. As we have had painting, ceramics and sculpture every year, we have now included drawing, photography, textile art, digital art. There is also abstraction, figuration ... there is everything, even goldsmithing.

How many artists participate in this edition?

We have 23 artists, plus what the Javier Román gallery of Malaga brings (mainly Meninas (Gema García), the Warhol masks (Martín Lagares) that we already saw in Art Marbella, and the famous Pedro Molina puppies, other acquaintance of us).

Are they all local artists or are there also from outside Santa Fe?

Almost half are from Santa Fe. The rest are from Granada and its metropolitan area.

How is the selection made?

I already knew many of them ... they call us, they send us their works and we make the selection.

We have reached the fifth edition of the Fair; how do you feel after five years organizing it?

I am very happy, because this was a project almost like madness that I proposed to the Director of the Institute of America. And he told me, Puri, go ahead. And I had to go out looking for artists ... That year we were ten. The following year it increased ... and that’s it, because there is no more space.

It has been increasing, I think, in quality, in number of artists, in number of visitors and in expectation as well. People already know that the Santa Fe Fair takes place every year ... This goes like a stern wind.

In addition to the Institute of America, what other institutions support you?

The City Council of Santa Fe and the Granada County Council, which is where we usually make the presentation to the press, together with Fátima Gómez, deputy of Culture and Historical and Democratic Memory.

We have that support from politicians that is very important. In fact, they subsidize everything: they leave us the premises, they pay the posters…

What do you think might be missing for next year?

What would be missing is to have another Institute of America to be able to welcome all the artists who want to come to the fair.

Santa Fe is a Spanish town, located in the province of Granada, famous for being where, on April 17, 1492, the Catholic Monarchs signed the "Capitulations", that is, the agreements reached with Christopher Columbus, relating to the maritime expedition that allowed the arrival of Europeans to America.

For its part, the América-Centro Damián Bayón Institute, is an institution that aims to deepen the knowledge of American art and culture, as well as its dissemination.

Photos: @yricardo